In online social networks, members can post content items for presentation to other members. Typically, members receive only the content items posted by members that they have approved of in some way such as by accepting an invitation. The posts can have a variety of formats, including content items such as a user profile, a user status, content items shared by the user, comments by the user on content items posted by another user, and connections, links, or friendships between users. Different social networks can receive, manage, and present, different content items formats among their respective members.
In some social networks, a member can block other members from viewing content items posted by the blocking member. Further, the blocking member is blocked from accessing or viewing content items posted by the blocked members. A member might desire to block the blocked member for a variety of reasons such as the blocked member posting too much content items, the blocked member posting content items that the member finds distasteful, or the member simply not wanting to pursue a connection with the blocked member. Additionally, in some social networks, a first member “de-friending” (or removing) a second member as a connection is not sufficient to block the second member's content from being presented to the first member and/or to block the first member's content from being presented to the second member.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.